USS Citadel (830)
|status = Active|armament = *4x main magitek cannons *2x heavy chin gun batteries *VLS launch systems|defenses = *1x mana shielding array *4x CIWS mounts|power = 1x Red Matter magitek mana power core|propulsion = Original configuration *4x Pratt & Whitney heavy fusial thrust engines *10x auxiliary wing-mounted Pratt & Whitney fusial thrust engines Refit configuration *4x MK2 Pratt & Whitney heavy fusial thrust engines *10x auxiliary wing-mounted Pratt & Whitney fusial thrust engines *Numerous ventral takeoff and landing thrusters|creator = Xaikon Heavy Industries|manufacture_date = 1989|vehicle_type = Aircraft|class = Gen-I ACS-1 Citadel-class aerial battleship|passenger_capacity = 200|length = 120.5 meters|auxillary_vehicles = Original configuration *V-22 Ospreys *Harrier jump jets Modern configuration *2 V-25 Valkyrie *2 F-35 Trident II}}The USS ''Citadel'' is the first Citadel-class aerial battleship. Entering service in 1989, this vessel is the oldest Citadel and one of the few original vessels of the first generation. History Background During the midst of the Cold War, the United States government felt that in order to combat potential supernatural threats and nuclear launches by the Soviets, a solution must involve the use of magic on a scale never before seen in the arsenal of the United States Armed Forces. The US military specified a request for a large, mobile flying fortress that could dispense massive amounts of damage via bombardment and also act as a mobile military base in the event of loss of infrastructure and existing command installations. The design also called for nuclear launch capability. In 1977, the first designs were drafted by various aerospace and defense contractors, and Xaikon Heavy Industries won the contract with their proposal. Around the same time, the Soviets began to develop an interest in the program, and soon started to launch their own counterpart program to rival the Citadel, the Antonov Katyusha. Awakening Era When the Type-III Awakening Incident began in 1985, production on the prototype was accelerated. As the world destabilized, Xaikon Heavy Industries received further government assistance to greatly expand their facilities and to supply resources to the project. Then-President Ronald Reagan took a gamble; he would pour resources and faith in the Airborne Command Station project, at the expense of the already outgunned, undermanned and short-supplied US forces existing and fighting. He, along with many government officials, believed that the Citadel project could turn the tide. This prototype ship'' was built and put into service in 1989, hurriedly pressed into action after completion of construction at a protected facility at one of the last remaining strongholds of US government. A metahuman gang attacked the site in an attempt to destroy the aircraft and loot the valuable equipment and hardware, but the efforts of military personnel and early Resistance fighters at the facility managed to hold them off long enough for the flight crew to rush to the not-entirely-ready plane and force an unplanned, unscheduled takeoff, not even knowing if the plane was capable of taking off. It did. As the aircraft rose into the sky and left the destroyed burning base that built it behind, it became in that moment the largest in the world. Functioning as a mobile military base, the USS ''Citadel would become instrumental in changing the course of the Parahuman Uprising in the United States.Though it lacked the heavier weaponry of its later descendants, the Citadel proved an effective platform in combating powered individuals, justifying the viability of the Airborne Command Station project. Though arguably ultimately successful, the prototype suffered severe issues and had to be redesigned multiple times in order to allow the experimental magic-technology systems to be refined to a point where they were functional enough for actual military service. These refits occurred throughout the later half of the 1990s. Modern day The Citadel still remains in active service as of 2029, though it sees less combat than its modern counterparts and serves more of a training, logistical and diplomatic role.